


and it must have been a deadly kiss

by mind_boggling



Series: but i was here from the very start [1]
Category: The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, sorry it took so long and is so bad, that thanksgiving au i was meant to write after popular demand
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-25
Updated: 2017-11-25
Packaged: 2019-02-06 17:21:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12822360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mind_boggling/pseuds/mind_boggling
Summary: When they were alone, she would ask David if he’d gotten in contact with him. When Sarah went out of the room, or the TV was turned up a little too loud for Leo and Zach to hear, she’d whisper it to him.And the answer would always be no.





	and it must have been a deadly kiss

**Author's Note:**

> that time when frank and karen are acting like petty teenagers around each other over a _kiss_

She had to admit, she was inexplicably dumbfounded when he knocked upon her apartment door.

Karen opened it, mug of coffee in hand that splattered all over the floor and up the bottoms of her pyjama trousers. He was wrapped in a huge jacket, scarf and bobble hat and all, and if it weren’t for the eccentricity of it, she wouldn’t have recognised him.

Of course, she’d only ever seen him in pictures. Old files and articles that Ellison had shown her, family photos that she’d dug up off of the internet, different social media’s she’d looked through and found photographs from. He looked different in person. And she found herself inviting him in for a (newly brewed) pot of coffee.

“I hope you don’t mind me coming here” He said, unwrapping the scarf from around his neck that muffled his voice. He pulled the bobble hat from his head and revealed the messy mop of hair on his head. It sprouted in all angles, and she couldn’t help but look. He scratched his head and it ruffled about on the top. “Frank told me a lot about you”

Her heart thudded in her chest at the mention of his name. She lost her breath a little, a short gasp escaping her mouth. He looked at her with the oddest frown on his face, before cracking a small smile. Karen cleared her throat. “What did he say?”

“That you helped a lot” He answered, holding the hat in both of his hands. He was dropping snow onto the flooring of her apartment as it condensed into water, but she didn’t mind. Her mind was focused on Frank. “And that without you I wouldn’t be back with my family. I mean, he was probably guilt tripping me into giving you all the credit you deserve, but I just really wanted to say thank you”

Her eyes glazed over. Here she was stood in front of David Lieberman, a man who was presumed dead by the world. Someone who existed only on a newspaper page, a figure in a journalistic imagination. Someone who only existed in their world. And here he was in her world, very real, and very alive. “Really, I didn’t do anything you don’t need to thank me”

He nodded forcefully, “I do. I do, Karen. Frank, he- he spoke so highly of you. He admires you a lot, and although he probably doesn’t like to admit it, he cares deeply about you. I can see it. He looks out for you and clearly trusts your instincts” 

Karen was silent as she let the words sink in. The lump that had grown in her throat threatened to expose her, and she swallowed roughly before taking a breath to speak again. “Have you spoken to him?” 

“I was hoping you had” David replied solemnly. He looked at the floor in dismay at Karen’s response, shoving his hands in his pocket along with the bobble hat. From the left pocket he pulled a photograph. Karen frowned as he approached her slowly and held it in front of her. “Here,” 

Karen recognised them as his family. She took the photograph from him and studied the four of them looking back at her on the small photo. “That’s my wife, Sarah, and my kids, Zach and Leo” She studied the photograph in the bad lighting and eyed the two kids smiling, a small smile forming on her face.

“They’re lovely” she answered, holding the photograph out towards him. He took it back from her, nodding his head in regard and thanks. “I’m really glad that you managed to get back to them. I’m glad Frank could help you with that” 

David nodded. “When I told them about you, they wouldn’t let me come here unless I asked you over for dinner. They wanted to thank you as much as I did. And, Leo, my lil girl, she- she saw you on the news. All that shit with the attack on the senator. She thinks you’re a total badass,”

Karen couldn’t hold back her laughter. She turned away from him as her tears formed once again, holding her hand to her face. David cracked a small laugh too, and the awkwardness between them dissipated instantly- and she was glad for it. Karen sniffed, wiping her cheek of a fallen tear before looking back toward him. “Tell her thank you, but I’m not a badass”

“You tell her yourself” He said, pulling another piece of paper from his pocket. He held it out to Karen, and she made out that there was an address on it. “Please. Next Friday, we’re having a late Thanksgiving lunch, just me, the kids and Sarah, and we’d really like it if you came. So we can show you how thankful we really are- in true American style: stuffing our faces with food”

Karen took the paper from David, looking down at the address. After a few seconds pondering it, she looked back toward him. “I’ll see if I can get the time off work” 

All she was met with was a smile before he exited her apartment and headed back into the harsh weather. Opposite her apartment were people sleeping on the streets, watching the cars whizz past them, people walk by them without a care in the world.

She found herself going to sleep that night thinking of Frank- wondering if he was outside in the demonic weather.

—

Karen met up with Sarah multiple times in the next week, to establish some sort of moral grounds between them. Ellison gave her the entire Friday off, so she arranged to help Sarah with food preparations for the lunch.

Getting to know her and her family was nice, but she felt guilty for taking credit that she wasn’t due. She knew that Frank was due all the credit, because he was the one who did the physical action. All that he endured for them was going unnoticed, and she was almost uncomfortable for it.

When they were alone, she would ask David if he’d gotten in contact with him. When Sarah went out of the room, or the TV was turned up a little too loud for Leo and Zach to hear, she’d whisper it to him. 

And the answer would always be no.

Friday approached, and Karen and Sarah found themselves busy in the kitchen preparing a meal for the five of them. Leo had a good run with them too, but she got bored when there was a lot of waiting around to do whilst things were in the oven. She laid and relaid the table about four times. 

“Leo, honey,” Sarah said, “I think it’s good, now”

“I want it to be perfect” She replied, sitting in each chair as she readjusted the silverware against the placemat. Karen watched with a smile on her face, listening to Sarah sigh and mumble under her breath. Leo piped up again, “When’s Dad getting back?”

Sighing once more, Sarah looked at the clock on the wall. Karen looked between the two of them, Leo messing around with the silverware again out of boredom. “Goodness knows, I hope it’s soon because we’ll be ready to eat in five minutes or so- where’s your brother?” 

“Upstairs I think” She replied, watching as Sarah headed down the hallway of her house and leaned against the stair railings and called for Zach to come downstairs. Karen heard the timer on the turkey go and she jumped out of her skin a little, grabbing the oven mitt and opening the door. 

“Oh, thank you Karen” Sarah replied as she re-entered the kitchen. She headed toward the island in the centre of the kitchen and cleared space so that Karen could place the turkey on the surface. Leo joined them at the counter, looking at the turkey sizzling in the tray in front of her. “Hey!” Sarah exclaimed as Zach took a handful of berries from a bowl on the table as he entered the room. “Hands off, they’re for later”

Almost on cue, the doorbell rang. Karen could sense she was getting stressed out, so she offered to get the door as Sarah plated the rest of the food, and had Leo and Zach take it to the table. Karen walked down the hallway toward the door wondering if she’d get the chance to ask David about any contact with Frank before they were ushered into the dining area.

She opened the door and felt her heart lurch in her chest, thudding quicker than ever in such a short period of time. David stood in the doorway with his hands in his pockets before stepping into the house.

“Look who I found” he said, moving out of Karen’s way as she was frozen in the door. The look on his face was almost a mirror of her own. The same dark eyes, black trench coat, combat boots. 

Frank. 

—

Karen found a reason to excuse herself half way through the dinner. Not so quickly after, David followed her.

The door clicked shut behind her as she paced the back yard of the Lieberman household. David stepped onto the decking and she instantly turned on him. His hands flew up in surrender. “You lied” 

“Hear me out, Karen” He replied, walking toward her. 

“Was any of what you told me true?” She asked, folding her arms across her chest. Karen felt the lump in her throat rise once again, her eyes glazing over instantly. She sniffed, David staying silent as he watched her painfully. “Any of it?” She demanded once again. 

David nodded. “Of course it was” he answered, scratching his beard and looking over his shoulder back into the house. Nobody was focusing on the conversation taking place between them, and for Karen’s sake, he was grateful. “Of course. Sarah and the kids, they wanted you here, I wanted you here. It’s none of my business but getting you two in the same room and both of you having knowledge of it, is damn hard”

Karen felt her skin tingle at the awkwardness her and Frank were projecting onto David. He was a freaking analyst, of course he would have noticed something was up. She let her mind cast back to the elevator. Her hand was on his arm and his bloody forehead touching hers. Their pain was pulsating together, wired into one almost like electricity. And the spark was there.

“Tell Sarah and the kids that I’m sorry but I have to go” Karen replied, heading past David back toward the house. As she approached the door, she was bombarded with Sarah, followed closely by Frank. She had no choice but to freeze on the spot. 

“What are you guys doing out here? It’s freezing” Sarah snapped, folding her arms across her chest in an attempt to keep warm. “Zach and Leo are getting a little suspicious as to why they can’t be included in your ‘grown up talk’, David”

David approached Sarah, muttering something to her before the two of them headed back inside mid argument. He looked back over his shoulder at Karen and nodded towards her, shutting the door behind them. The silence was palpable, and Frank exhaled loudly, his breath forming a cloud in front of his mouth. 

“Just so we’re clear, I had no idea you were gonna be here otherwise I wouldn’t have agreed to come” Frank spoke gruffly, and Karen felt her stomach lurch at hearing his voice after so long. It almost transported her to a different place completely, everything hitting her at once and sending her a little dizzy. 

“Likewise” She managed to mumble in response. 

“Fucking Lieberman” He cursed under his breath.

She shook her head. “Don’t blame him. He doesn’t know”

Frank cleared his throat awkwardly, shuffling snow beneath his boots on the decking. Karen watched him as he shoved his hands in his pockets before looking back toward her. “How have you been? You look well”

Karen nodded, a small smile on her face. Her pounding heart was putting her off a coherent answer so she gave herself a few seconds. There was so much she would have said to him, so much she had planned to say to him since they parted ways in the elevator. 

So much that died on her lips with his kiss.

“Yeah. I guess I’m okay” Was what she ended up saying. When Frank didn’t respond, and the silence seeped back in, she spoke again. “I missed you, Frank” 

It was more of a whisper. A pathetic attempt at amends. His eyes watered when he looked into hers. Her fingers lingered on her lips and he looked at them, his own heart pounding in his ears. “I missed you” she repeated.

And his arms around her body was his only way of saying it back.

**Author's Note:**

>  **title:** song lyrics from ' _only love can hurt like this_ ' by _paloma faith_
> 
> find me elsewhere:
> 
>  **twitter:** vanlangs  
>  **tumblr:** bisexualieberman


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